How to fill in Annex VII, field by field

The Annex VII document (officially "Information Accompanying Shipments of Waste") travels with every cross-border shipment of green-listed waste in the EU. It looks simple: one page. In practice it is where most compliance mistakes happen, because every field has a precise legal meaning. Here is what each part actually asks for.

Before you start: is your waste really green-listed?

Annex VII only applies to waste on the green list (Basel Annex IX and related entries) destined for recovery. If your waste is on the orange or red list, or contaminated to the point it no longer meets the green-list entry, you need the notification and consent procedure instead. Getting this classification wrong is the single most expensive mistake: shipping notifiable waste on an Annex VII counts as an illegal shipment.

The parties

The person who arranges the shipment

The company organising the movement: often a trader or broker, sometimes the waste producer. This party carries responsibility for the document and must be established in the country of dispatch. Full legal name, address, contact person, phone and email.

Importer / consignee

Who receives the waste in the destination country. If the waste goes straight to a recovery facility, consignee and facility can be the same entity, but both fields still need to be complete.

Carrier(s)

The transport companies actually moving the load, up to three on one document. Each with name, address and contact details. If a carrier changes at the last minute, the document must be updated before the truck rolls.

Waste generator (producer)

The original producer of the waste. For collected mixed loads this can be the collector; for a single industrial source it is that plant. Authorities cross-check this field against your contracts.

Recovery facility

The plant where the waste is actually recovered, with its permit-relevant details, plus the recovery operation R-code (for example R3 for recycling of organics, R4 for metals recycling). The facility must be authorised for that operation in its member state.

The waste itself

• Designation and composition: a plain description of the waste ("baled PET bottles, clear, post-consumer").
• Waste identification codes: the Basel code (for example B3011 for plastics), the EU List of Waste (EWC) code, and where applicable OECD and national codes. The codes must be consistent with each other and with the description.
• Customs code (HS/CN): increasingly requested alongside the waste codes so customs and environmental data line up.
• Quantity: the actual weight in tonnes (or volume). Estimates are for the contract; the document carries the real figure.
• Date of shipment: the actual date the movement starts, not the planned week.

Countries concerned and signature

List the country of dispatch, any transit countries and the destination country. Then the person who arranges the shipment signs the declaration that the information is complete and correct. Under the digital regime this becomes a structured submission via DIWASS rather than an ink signature, which is exactly why the data needs to be right: the system validates it instead of a human squinting at a printout.

The five mistakes that get loads stopped

1. Waste code and description do not match. A B3011 code with a description mentioning mixed contamination invites reclassification at the roadside.
2. Wrong party in "arranges the shipment". Putting the carrier or the consignee there because "they organised the truck" is a classic error.
3. Missing or expired facility authorisation. The R-code must match what the destination facility is actually permitted to do.
4. Copy-paste from the previous shipment. Old dates, old quantities, old carrier. Inspectors check exactly these fields first.
5. No contract behind the shipment. Article 18 shipments require a contract between the person arranging the shipment and the consignee covering take-back obligations. The document references reality; the contract is that reality.